Mom gets 6 months in jail for drunken driving with child in car

An Orion Township mother who was arrested while driving with a blood alcohol level four times the legal limit — with her 9-year-old in the back seat — was recently sentenced to 180 days in jail.

Pamela Kroll, 47, stood in 52-3 District Court in Judge Lisa Asadoorian’s courtroom Monday, and was given a 6-month jail term, along with 24 months of probation upon her release, said Lake Orion Police Chief Jerry Narsh.

“Though her charges were misdemeanors, she got the max,” Narsh said.

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Kroll was charged with one count of operating while intoxicated with an occupant less than 16-years-old, a one-year misdemeanor, and another count of operating with a high blood alcohol content. She pleaded guilty May 29 during a pretrial to her charges.

A complaint about a reckless driver in early April spurred charges against the mother, said Lake Orion Police Department officials. A caller April 7 said a white Chevrolet Equinox was running off the roadway — driving across the sidewalk and into a yard at one point — and had crossed the center line of the road, nearly hitting opposing traffic.

A Lake Orion police officer responded to the area where Kroll had driven into a parking lot near M-24 and Atwater Street.

The officer reported the 47-year-old laid her head on the steering wheel. Her young son was in the back seat, not wearing a seat belt. It took a knock on the window to get the mother to respond, said the officer.

After failing sobriety tests, the mother was arrested for drunken driving as well as child endangerment. The child’s father came to the scene to take custody of the 9-year-old.

“(Kroll) had such a high level of alcohol content she required a medical clearance before she could be incarcerated,” said Narsh. “(Tuesday’s) sentence was appropriate for the danger that existed in this incident.”

The Lake Orion chief added that Kroll’s blood alcohol content — a .36 — was the second highest he’s seen in his 31 years in law enforcement.